National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Tokyo or Vissel Kobe that keep their silverware dream alive.
Both teams should be fairly well rested for this game, as they have had some quiet days to prepare. Hopefully this will translate into lots of action on the pitch.
Tokyo form and stats
Tokyo was eliminated in the semi-finals last season in the Ybc Levain Cup.Tokyo have collected 9 points from their J-League home games so far after 3-0-1. The opportunity of a proper winning streak is there for the hosts, with two straight wins here at Ajinomoto Stadium.
A nice win for Tokyo last time playing, versus Vegalta Sendai. That was also a home game and the match ended 2-1 with Diego Oliveira and Kyosuke Tagawa scoring for the victors. Ahead of that match, Tokyo won a home game hosting Shonan Bellmare (3-2).
This is expected to be a close game, with Tokyo perhaps considered small favourites due to their home advantage. Looking back at earlier matches similar to this one (expected to be close with Tokyo as a small favourite), we find nine games. Tokyo has won six of these, drawn zero and lost three.
Goals are plentiful at Ajinomoto Stadium in the league this season as Tokyo has scored 10 goals here in 4 home games. Goals are flowing in at the wrong end for Tokyo with 8 goals conceded in these matches.
Vissel Kobe form and stats
They also participated in Ybc Levain Cup last season. This ended in the quarter-finals.The seven points Vissel Kobe have gathered from their first three away trips in the J-League is impressive and could lead to great things if the form continues. Momentum is building for Vissel Kobe in their away games, having won their two previous outings.
Two travels in a row for Vissel, whose manager A. Miura could celebrate last time after the J-League win against Consadole Sapporo. A 1-1 draw was the result before that, hosting Kawasaki Frontale in the J-League.
What a finish in the last match, as Vissel Kobe came back from being down 0-3 and secured a very satisfying victory through Hotaru Yamaguchi's goal in the 86th minute. A crazy, crazy match with lots of goals last time out for Vissel, as mentioned above. 7 goals in that one, will this match be as much fun?
As mentioned above, this is an open game with no clear favourite. We have found 15 similar matches played by Vissel in our archives, and the results are: four wins for Vissel Kobe, five draws and six defeats.
Today's guests are confident travelers having scored 8 goals in 3 league games away this season. For Vissel, more than two goals on average per game end up in their own net.
Head 2 Head
Tokyo-Vissel Kobe H2H statistics last ten meetings regardless of arena: Tokyo four wins, Vissel Kobe three wins, three draws. four of these ten matches had three or more goals (over 2,5).Top Goalscorers
  D. Queiroz de Oliveira 3 goals |  K. Tagawa 3 goals |  K. Furuhashi 3 goals |
Tokyo missing players
Vissel Kobe missing players
| Tokyo | Vissel Kobe | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 14 | Played | P | 14 | 25 | ||
| 12 | 8 | Won | W | 6 | 8 | ||
| 3 | 0 | Drew | D | 1 | 4 | ||
| 10 | 6 | Lost | L | 7 | 13 | ||
| 31 | 19 | Scored | S | 27 | 34 | ||
| 31 | 20 | Conceded | C | 27 | 41 | ||
| 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | ||
| 60% | 57% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 86% | 80% | ||
| 48% | 57% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 79% | 48% | ||
| 28% | 43% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 57% | 36% | ||
| 12% | 21% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 36% | 20% | ||
| 52% | 50% | BTTS | BTTS | 86% | 64% | ||
| 24% | 29% | Clean Sheets | C S | 0% | 8% | ||
| 24% | 21% | Failed to Score | F T | 14% | 28% | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1.1 | 0.9 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1 | 0.9 | ||
| 1 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | ||
| 10.2 | 11.1 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 10.5 | 10.1 | ||
| 4.2 | 4.7 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 4.5 | 4 | ||
| 30% | 29% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 43% | 34% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Vissel Kobe | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | Tokyo | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Tokushima Vortis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 4 | Oita Trinita | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Kawasaki Frontale | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 15 | 19 |
| 2 | Nagoya Grampus | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 18 |
| 3 | Sagan Tosu | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 13 |
| 4 | Cerezo Osaka | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 13 |
| 5 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 12 |
| 6 | Tokyo | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
| 7 | Vissel Kobe | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 11 |
| 8 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| 9 | Avispa Fukuoka | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 10 |
| 10 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| 11 | Oita Trinita | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -2 | 5 |
| 12 | Tokushima Vortis | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 5 |
| 13 | Urawa Reds | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | -8 | 5 |
| 14 | Consadole Sapporo | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 15 | Kashima Antlers | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 4 |
| 16 | Shonan Bellmare | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 | -3 | 4 |
| 17 | Kashiwa Reysol | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | -5 | 4 |
| 18 | Vegalta Sendai | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 11 | -12 | 1 |
| 19 | Gamba Osaka | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 20 | Yokohama | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 12 | -14 | 0 |